When Robyn decided to become a surrogate, she looked into options that included going through an agency or doing it privately. She compared the earnings for a surrogate and the agencies, and researched how much intended parents were going to have to pay an agency. She gathered the same data going the private route.
Robyn discovered that intended parents can pay as much as $100K, which includes all treatment and medications. Surrogates, meanwhile, only make a certain amount.
By going privately, surrogates and intended parents negotiate the contract and agree on the surrogate’s payment. Typically, this amount is less than the agency price, but it means hiring lawyers and negotiating directly with the surrogate.
In Robyn’s case, her goal was to save the intended parents money, to “not break a family, but to make a family.”
It was important to Robyn that a family didn’t spend all their money to have a child. She wanted to bring happiness into their lives, not anxiety about how to survive as a family after paying for a baby.
She decided to go private, and found a website– findsurrogatemother.com and created a free profile. It provided an excellent way to get her information out there, and ultimately connected her to intended parents working with Dr. Jane Frederick in HRC’s Orange County office.
Robyn and her husband had dinner with the couple to make sure they were compatible and negotiated the financial details back and forth via email. Once they agreed on payment, they drew up a contract and sent it to Robyn’s lawyer.
The relationship has been a complete success. At this writing, Robyn is due any day with the couple’s child!